INDEPENDENCE, Ohio – The Cleveland Cavaliers did exactly what they set out to do in Game 3 and played like a team in a do-or-die situation.

Within the first two minutes and thirty seconds on play on Wednesday, the Cavs jumped out to a 9-0 run by playing off a raucous crowd in Quicken Loans Arena and using their home-court advantage to stun the Warriors early.

A similar start in Game 4 is critical to Cleveland”s game plan knowing the Warriors hope to come out with a different mindset after using adjectives like “soft” and comparing the way they played to “peaches n” cream” to describe how the embarrassment of a 120-90 loss in Game 3.

“We respect them quite a bit but we”re also very capable of runs as we”ve shown,” Richard Jefferson said. “Here at home we shoot the ball a little bit better, we play with a little more energy thanks in part to our fans. We need to get off to a good start and we need to sustain it.”

Creating a big lead over the Warriors is one thing. Maintaining it is another, according to LeBron James.

The bigger the margin, the harder it is.

“The Warriors (are) really the toughest team to go against when you”re up,” James said. “When you”re up on big on them, then you”re really not up big.

“It”s almost like going against the Green Bay Packers. If you”re up a couple touchdowns versus Aaron Rodgers, you just know you can”t relax because one 60-yard bomb here, 70-yard connection here, they”re right back in the game. That”s what Golden State does. They”re never too far away from the lead or never too far away when they”re down to get back in the game.”